I'm here, I'm here!

Oh boy ladies!  These autumn months are crazy and now with Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas upon us, there are more reasons to say to ourselves that we should just wait until January for fitness goals, right?  WRONG! 

I just spent the last two weeks with family in town, staying at my house, and while I love them dearly, it completely rocked my routine.  Prior to their arrival, I had a good thing going and then it all sort of went by the wayside.   I was able to still make good food choices and fit some workouts in, but it wasn't my best and now I'm a bit down on myself for it. 

So, while drinking my morning coffee today and trying to mentally recover, I've decided to recommit myself.  As my oldest son told me at breakfast, "there are 26 days until Christmas mom", which means there are 32 days until our Surrender Your Jeans challenge is over!  That's 32 days of workouts, healthy foods and days for feeling great! 

Let's pledge to make today another fresh start!  Maybe some of you didn't fall down recently like I did and that's fantastic.  Congrats to you!  We owe it to ourselves and to Sierra who is working so hard to help us reach our goals!

Stefanie

My girls finished a 5k with me on Thanksgiving!  

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Surrender Your Jeans: Week 9 Challenges: 11/27/11

Surrender Your Jeans: Week 9 Challenges: 11/27/11: Week 9 Challenges: 11/27/11 NO SWEETS No eating after 7pm unless you have medication that requires it. Water and a Apple or Grapefruit a...

Week 9 Challenges: 11/27/11

Week 9 Challenges:  11/27/11

1. NO SWEETS 
2. No eating after 7pm unless you have medication that requires it.  Water and a Apple or Grapefruit are an exception.
3.     NO Fried foods (this includes chips because they too are fried)
4.   No white carbs (bread, pasta, and rice)
5.   No alcohol
6.   Keep your meals @ 400 calories.  
7.   Control portion sizes ahead of time:  make snacks the night before 
8.   Identify your crucial moments:  look at your typical day and find the moments or times when problems occur- when you overeat or skip a chance to exercise.  These moments will be part of our focus this week. 
9.   Stretch for 5 minutes every day.  (when you get out of bed  is   the BEST time to do this) 
10.   RUN/WALK/BIKE/ELLIPTICAL 10 miles this week.  PLAN this out ahead of time.
11.   50 crunches a day, 25 reverse crunches
12.   50 squats a day
13.   35 push ups a day
14.   60 seconds plank on elbows, 30 seconds side plank on each side.   (2x)
15.   50 back rows ( this is very important for your posture )
16.   Keep reading--- must be inspirational (Post your book and how it inspires you on     the blog)

Week 9 Focus:  11/27/2011

Critical Moments: I want you to focus on looking at your patterns throughout each day this week.  The strategy is to map the flow of your day and then look for critical moments or times when you overeat, skip a chance to exercise, or sit for more than 1 hour at a time.  Once you have found these moments we need to create rules or necessary behaviors to follow during those high-leverage moments.  A necessary behavior is one that helps prevent the problem to begin with.    

Sleep:  Did you know that it is easier to lose weight if you have more sleep?  Not enough sleep increases cortisol levels in your body which make it difficult for your body to burn fat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a very happy and festive day.  I'm very thankful for having the opportunity to work with such a great group of ladies.  You are all amazing and I look forward to helping you become healthier, happier, and fit!

Thank you,

xxoo Sierra

Thanksgiving week 8 challenges

Thanksgiving Week 8:  11/20/2011

This week the goal is to stick to your exercise routine and eat small portions--  see the notes below for some helpful tips to get through this week!  

• 1 Reduce or avoid alcohol. This can save you a lot of calories
• 2 Eat before going to a holiday party. You'll be less likely to fill up on sweets and high-calorie appetizers.
• 3 Keep up your exercise challenges. It will help you maintain your weight, give you more energy and allow you to deal better with holiday stress.
• 4 Bring fat-free or low-fat dishes to potlucks.  Encourage others to do the same.
• 5 Arrive at mealtime for a dinner party and avoid before-dinner drinks and appetizers.
• 6  Replace sweets with healthy holiday snacks such as fruit baskets and nuts in shells. They look just as festive and are healthier.
• 7 Attend only the parties you really want to go to. You'll save a lot of calories - and time.
• 8  Simplify the meal if you are cooking. Serve raw vegetables with a dip for an appetizer, a low-fat main course with one or two vegetables, and a fruit and low-fat cheese platter for dessert.
• 9 Set realistic goals. At a holiday dinner or party, indulge in some goodies, but eat smaller portions. Have only one glass of wine or Champagne. Take half a slice of pie.
• 10 Avoid skipping meals before a big holiday meal. You don't want to arrive starving and then gorge yourself on sweets and other unhealthy fare.
• 11 Use moderation and relax. If you break down and eat a high-fat dessert, just go easy on what you have the rest of the day or cut back a few calories tomorrow.
• 12 Drink lots of water

Bloggers?? where are you?

BTW.... Where are all the blogs?  :)   Tell us how you are doing so you can inspire one another and hold each other accountable.
Those of you that have had others surrender their jeans to you-- How are your friends doing?

What to do when the scale isn't moving

Ladies,

Here is a good article for those of you that might feel like they have reached a plateau.  Just remember if you are not loosing weight you may need to change something up.  Energy in Vs. Energy out....  What we really care about is what your body composition is doing and this sometimes is not reflected well by use of the scale.  Hang in there and focus on your food intake as this is CRUCIAL in order for you to reach your goals.
www.webmd.com/diet/features/10-ways-to-move-beyond-a-weight-loss-plateau

Sierra :)

Week 7 Challenges and Focus!

Week 7 Challenges:  11/13/11

1. NO SWEETS 
2. No eating after 7pm unless you have medication that requires it.  Water and a Apple or Grapefruit are an exception.
3.     NO Fried foods (this includes chips because they too are fried)
4.   No white carbs (bread, pasta, and rice)
5.   No alcohol
6.   Keep your meals @ 400 calories.  
7. PLAN your meals & snacks ahead of time.   
8.   Stretch for 5 minutes every day.  (when you get out of bed  is   the BEST time to do this) 
9.   RUN/WALK/BIKE/ELLIPTICAL 9 miles this week.  PLAN this out ahead of time.
10.   50 crunches a day, 25 reverse crunches
11.   50 squats a day
12.   25 push ups a day
13.  60 seconds plank on elbows, 30 seconds side plank on each side.   
14.  Keep reading--- must be inspirational (Post your book and how it inspires you on the blog)
15.  Drink 1 full 12oz glass of water before each meal.

Week 7 Focus:  

Cardio:  Be sure to get your weekly miles in but do your cardio with an extra shot of energy.  Go into this week ready to sweat and challenge yourself to walk, run, bike faster than you did this week.  Do not skip your daily exercise routines-- Just do it!

Water:  More water and less of everything else.   Could you only drink water (and lots of it) this week?  Drink 1 full 12oz glass of water before each meal.

Lentils

Hey ladies,

Check out today's paper (Oregonian food section). There is a great article about lentils and how great they are. Try one of the recipes! Just think how much money we would save if we ate more legumes for our protein source-- not to mention how good for us it would be!

Sierra

Excited and Nervous...

I finally reached the weight I was before I had my first child! The only thing is, this has been my weight for a LONG time. I can't remember being below this since college. I'm excited to say I have lost all of my baby weight plus a few pounds in 7 months but I'm a little nervous I'm going to plateau and have a hard time breaking passed this point.

I've yo-yo'd maybe five pounds less but I seem to always settle back at this number. I'm determined to get passed it and never see it on the scale again!

Hope everyone is having a great week and I should be able to make it this Sunday... FINALLY! :)

UGH!!!

Okay, so I promised myself I would not be a coward, and would face up to what a disaster last week was... it was horrifying, but I'll spare you all the details. And I have all kinds of excuses - I was traveling for business, and my routine got messed up, I've been overwhelmed with commitments and looking for middle schools that are a good fit for my daughter, it was my husband's birthday... blah, blah, blah, the excuses are endless. :-(

Today however, I've decided this is ridiculous. Instead of beating myself up and going back to my old patterns, I need to get back on the program and make sure that I'm doing the things that are good for me. There are lots of reasons to not do so this week - my boss is in town from Russia, there are other face to face meetings with international folks all week, and of course, the middle school open houses continue with a vengeance... BUT, I will get to the gym every day this week, I will NOT eat any sweets or fried foods, or drink alcohol, and I *will* stay focused on why I signed up for this in the first place... Looking for all your positive thoughts this week... :-)

Week 6 FOCUS

Week 6 Focus:  11/6/2011

Starting this week we will have 2 "focus challenges" that will be the theme for the week.  Read below and spend this next week focusing on these challenges.  

VEGGIE WEEK:  Step outside of your comfort zone and be creative with veggies.  Spend a little extra time preparing them so that when it comes time to make dinner they are ready to go. 

READING:  This can play a very important part in your motivation and success.  Be sure that you are reading something that inspires you..  Post it to the blog and tell us why-

Week 6 Challenges

Week 6 Challenges:  11/6/2011

1. NO SWEETS 
2. No eating after 7pm unless you have medication that requires it.  Water and a Apple or Grapefruit are an exception.
3.     NO Fried foods (this includes chips because they too are fried)
4.   No white carbs (bread, pasta, and rice)
5.   No alcohol
6.   Keep your meals @ 400 calories.  
7. PLAN your meals & snacks ahead of time.   
8.   Stretch for 5 minutes every day.  (when you get out of bed  is   the BEST time to do this) 
9.   RUN/WALK/BIKE/ELLIPTICAL 8 miles this week.  PLAN this out ahead of time.
10.   50 crunches a day, 25 reverse crunches
11.   50 squats a day
12.   25 push ups a day
13.  60 seconds plank on elbows, 30 seconds side plank on each side.   
14.  Keep reading--- must be inspirational (Post your book and how it inspires you on the blog)

Month 2

Hey ladies,

How is the start of month 2? Are you keeping good with the Halloween candy?
Just remember that this is about you -- you deserve the extra attention on yourself. :)

A Size "Small"

I ran to Costco today to grab a few things. I spotted some cute sweaters and thought, why not? I got a small hoping I could wear it for the holidays. I tried it on this afternoon to see how tight it would fit. I wasn't expecting to be able to wear it for at least a month.... Guess what? It fits great! I can't remember the last time I bought a small size piece of clothing. It feels amazing and I can't wait what month 2 will bring!

More encouraged and energized to keep this up. I just might be able to feel comfortable wearing a bathing suit for our cruise in Jan. Here's hoping!

Hope to see some of you on Friday morning, I have a toddler that is coming down with something. Hopefully she feels better soon and I'm not up all night. :)